Kinmont Willie Armstrong
Encyclopedia
William Armstrong of Kinmont or Kinmont Willie was a border reiver
and outlaw
active in the Anglo
-Scottish
Border country
in the last decades of the 16th century.
Armstrong was captured by the forces of the English Warden of the West March in violation of a truce day in 1596. At the Truce Day all who attended to witness the criminal trials were granted 'safe conduct' for the Day and until the following sunrise. Kinmont, a witness to the trials, was taken against the 'safe conduct' and imprisoned in Carlisle Castle
. Walter Scott of Buccleuch
("the Bauld Buccleuch"), keeper of Liddesdale
on whose land the arrest had been made, protested to the English Warden, Thomas Scrope, 10th Baron Scrope of Bolton
. When Scrope refused to release Armstrong, Buccleuch led a party of men on a daring raid into England and broke Armstrong out of the castle with inside help from the English Grahams and Carletons. Elizabeth 1 of England was furious that one of her Border fortresses had been broken into at a time when peace existed between England and Scotland. Her relationship with James V1 of Scotland was tested to the point where James thought he might lose succession to the English throne. He had been all but promised this and a pension from the English in 1586. Elizabeth demanded that Buccleuch should be handed over to the English for punishment. James was caught between allegiance to the Scots who were adamant Buccleuch had done no wrong in rescuing a man who was captured illegally and his desire to pander to his English benefactor, Elizabeth. Buccleuch was eventually 'warded' in England although no action was taken against him.
Kinmont Willie Armstrong was never recaptured. Legend supposes he died in his bed of old age, sometime between 1608 and 1611.
The story of the raid on Carlisle Castle is told in the ballad
"Kinmont Willie" (Child
No. 186).
Border Reivers
Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality...
and outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
active in the Anglo
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Border country
Border Country
Border Country is a novel by Raymond Williams. The book was re-published in December 2005 as one of the first group of titles in the Library of Wales series, having been out of print for several years. Written in English, the novel was first published in 1960.It is set in rural South Wales, close...
in the last decades of the 16th century.
Armstrong was captured by the forces of the English Warden of the West March in violation of a truce day in 1596. At the Truce Day all who attended to witness the criminal trials were granted 'safe conduct' for the Day and until the following sunrise. Kinmont, a witness to the trials, was taken against the 'safe conduct' and imprisoned in Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is situated in Carlisle, in the English county of Cumbria, near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. The castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it...
. Walter Scott of Buccleuch
Walter Scott, 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch
Walter Scott, 5th of Buccleuch, 1st Baron Scott of Buccleuch was a Scottish nobleman and famous border reiver, known as the “Bold Buccleuch” and leader of Kinmont Willie’s Raid...
("the Bauld Buccleuch"), keeper of Liddesdale
Liddesdale
Liddesdale, the valley of the Liddel Water, in the County of Roxburgh, southern Scotland, extends in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell to the River Esk, a distance of...
on whose land the arrest had been made, protested to the English Warden, Thomas Scrope, 10th Baron Scrope of Bolton
Thomas Scrope, 10th Baron Scrope of Bolton
Thomas le Scrope, 10th Baron Scrope of Bolton was the son of Henry le Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton and Margaret Howard, daughter of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey....
. When Scrope refused to release Armstrong, Buccleuch led a party of men on a daring raid into England and broke Armstrong out of the castle with inside help from the English Grahams and Carletons. Elizabeth 1 of England was furious that one of her Border fortresses had been broken into at a time when peace existed between England and Scotland. Her relationship with James V1 of Scotland was tested to the point where James thought he might lose succession to the English throne. He had been all but promised this and a pension from the English in 1586. Elizabeth demanded that Buccleuch should be handed over to the English for punishment. James was caught between allegiance to the Scots who were adamant Buccleuch had done no wrong in rescuing a man who was captured illegally and his desire to pander to his English benefactor, Elizabeth. Buccleuch was eventually 'warded' in England although no action was taken against him.
Kinmont Willie Armstrong was never recaptured. Legend supposes he died in his bed of old age, sometime between 1608 and 1611.
The story of the raid on Carlisle Castle is told in the ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
"Kinmont Willie" (Child
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
No. 186).